


COFFEE TASTE TEST (MEET MY GIRLFRIEND)

by bemse



Series: WRW 2019 [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Youtuber AU, nothing dirty going on in this family channel, overall very fluffy, rated M for language and sexual implications, ruby and weiss are millennial parents, ruby's the only one that's a youtuber, rwbaby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2020-04-23 21:42:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19159546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bemse/pseuds/bemse
Summary: Ruby and Weiss have been together for a long ass time. Being a YouTuber and Twitch streamer leaves her fans pining for info on the gamer's personal life, including her GF.10 coffee drinks. 10 questions. What could go wrong?





	COFFEE TASTE TEST (MEET MY GIRLFRIEND)

**Author's Note:**

> For White Rose Week 2019
> 
> Day 1: Coffee

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/182185066@N08/48095981801/in/dateposted-public/)

**Prologue**

“Do you mind sitting in the center so that I can focus the shot?” Ruby is behind the camera, adjusting the lens of her DSLR camera. Weiss, across from her, silently agrees by scooting a bit to her right on their couch. “Perfect.” She signals her girlfriend as Ruby adjusts the focus.

“I know I am.” She jokes. Ruby snickers along with her. She quickly turns her attention to the other camera on top. A wide and a tight shot. After that, Ruby grabs the stuff she needs for audio in a bag nearby. “Do you want me to stay here?” Weiss asks her.

Ruby looks over her shoulder to face Weiss. “Oh. Um.” She holds a microphone in her hand and walks tentatively to set it on the coffee table. Rubbing her hands together, she answers. “I have an idea on how you can enter… that way it’s not so jarring to the viewer.” Her eyes aren’t on Weiss, and she notices this, along with the fidgeting.

“Hey, are you okay?” Weiss asked worriedly.

“I’m fine.” Ruby lies.

“Ruby, you’re sweating like a geyser.” She directs their attention to Ruby’s grey T-shirt with a logo of their alma mater. Sweat stains are all over the usual areas. “Like, I know it’s the start of summer, but Jesus _fucking_ Christ.”

She just chuckles at this. “Okay, _okay_. I’ll wear something over it.” Ruby makes her way to her office in a nearby hallway.

Weiss bites her bottom lip. “Don’t tell me it’s the sweatshirt that you haven’t washed in months.” Ruby comes back wearing exactly that. “Oh my fucking god.” Ruby bites her lower lip, mischievously ginning. “You’re nearly thirty-years-old… and I live with you.” She massages her temples.

Ruby takes Weiss’s hands in hers, helping her off their couch, and lazily sways their arms together. She guides them behind the camera and lighting setup, poorly singing “You _love_ me, you _love_ me, you _love_ me…”

Weiss ends up mirroring Ruby’s smile. She leans forward to peck her lips. “You’re flat.”

She scoffs. “Says you.” Weiss gasps, her mouth agape. Ruby returns the smooch on Weiss’s cheek, below her covered scar. “Lemme finish setting up and we can fucking start!” She makes her way on the couch to work on the microphone.

* * *

Ruby Rose, a mildly successful YouTuber, is set up on her living room couch. She does her signature gleeful introduction to the start of her videos. “Today,” she locks eyes with the camera, “I have a guest.” A wide grin appears on Ruby’s face. “Which by the title of the video, you know who it is.” Her eyes gaze off past the lens. “Please, have a sit,” she addresses her guest. She scoots over to the left of the frame, donning a cheery smile.

Sitting on the other side of the couch from Ruby is Weiss Schnee. She timidly introduces herself to the camera. Her posture on the couch is significantly better than Ruby’s by a mile--a stark difference between the two already.

Ruby tenderly holds her hand and faces her. “And how do we know each other, Weiss?” She asks.

A giggle slips out of her. “We’re best friends--”

Ruby mirrors her laughter. “You’ve been here for five seconds and you’re friend zoning me?” Ruby laughs along with Weiss. “She’s my girlfriend.” She blushes nervously at the camera.

“For now.” Weiss jokes, mock-offending Ruby.

The YouTuber shifts her attention back to the lens. “I’m making this video because a lotta you have been asking about my girlfriend for a _very_ long time. We live together, we have a dog, we have a kid, and people have been wondering how it all started… how we happened--”

“I’ve been wondering the same thing, too.” Weiss cracks a smile, Ruby tilts her head down to hide her laugh.

Ruby continues going over the concept. “Anyway, I wanted to try something a little different for the channel, beyond video games and shit, ‘cause Weiss isn’t a gamer. She doesn’t play games.” Weiss firmly shakes her head. “And, I dunno, I wanna try different content; lately, you’ve seen me vlog more, that’s always something I’ve wanted to do.” She continues to ramble. “There's the girlfriend tag trend thing, but, I dunno,” she glances at Weiss, “those questions on there are shitty and basic. It's like... when’s your birthday, where were you born, what's your eye color--"

"Oh yeah, those are dumb." Weiss lazily pays attention.

"But y'know what's _not_ shitty?” She shifts between Weiss and the camera. “Hot Ones--which is basically this video, but with a _twist_ . We have Starbucks secret menu drinks instead." The video zooms out to show ten Starbucks cup lined up on the coffee table in front of them. Ruby looks at her girlfriend. “ _And--_ ” she drags out, not really knowing what to say next, “what do ya think, Weiss?” She asks her.

“You showed me a couple Hot Ones episodes. And it’s the… spicy wings interview show, right?” Weiss asks with furrowed brows and Ruby nods her head in confirmation. “Okay. Also,” she faces the camera, “I would like to acknowledge that I paid over _sixty dollars_ for all these drinks,” Ruby stifles her laughter, “which is _atrocious_ \--and that didn’t even include my generous tip.” Ruby cackles.

“Yeah,” the YouTuber recomposes herself momentarily, “so on top of the ten drinks we also ordered our regular drink orders as sort of palate cleansers.” Ruby holds up two cups from her and Weiss’s side of the table. “A black coffee for you and a hot chocolate for me--both in larger sizes by the way…” she places the cups back down, “‘cause we wanted them to last the whole video… basically.” She adds a bit nervously. “Also, we have water,” she quickly shows them a glass of water, “also a very good palate cleanser. So, before we start, how do you think you’ll like ‘em?”

“Ruby…” Weiss looks at her in disbelief, “I’m a coffee connoisseur.” Ruby bites her bottom lip from laughing. “These are all Starbucks Frappuccinos,” she observes one of them in her hand, “which I don’t even consider as real coffee, nevertheless, a beverage.” She returns the cup back down.

Ruby holds back laughter. “Shit, our kitchen…” Ruby gestures off-camera toward their kitchen, “has these giant-ass glass containers full of raw beans proudly displayed on the countertops. And--”

“Wait. Hold on. Did--did you just refer to coffee beans as _‘raw_?’” Weiss asks her, mouth agape. “As in… the coffee beans I collect that are very expensive and very rare?” She slightly raises her voice.

Ruby’s laughing tears. “We’re off to a great start already.” She says, shooting a thumbs up. Weiss simply shakes her head at her.

“So what’s the order of these anyway?” She asks, turning the cups in uniformity.

“Oh yeah,” Ruby shifts her eyes between the camera and her girlfriend, “so Hot Ones, for those who don’t know, order their wings from least to most spicy. These Starbucks drinks are not spicy, obviously, so I put them in order of least to most shitty… or at least, what I consider a shitty looking or sounding drink.” Ruby takes out her phone, pulling up the notes app.

“That’s… so reassuring.” Weiss comments with a bit of sarcasm in her voice.

She chuckles, “Yeah, yeah… so to start us off, we have this Green Tea Kit Kat Frappuccino,” Ruby looks back at Weiss, “do you wanna try this first or shall I?”

Weiss shrugs. “You’re the one holding it, you go ahead.”

Ruby takes a sip from the cup and hands it to Weiss, who takes a sip. She smacks her lips. “That’s not bad.”

Weiss reaches over at Ruby’s side of the coffee table to put it down. “I expected worse.”

“And, yes, we’re sharing the same straw.” She scrolls through her phone for the question. “Don’t think anything of it.”

“Are people watching this going to think sharing a straw is gross or something?” Weiss has a sip of her black coffee.

“God, Weiss, it’s the Internet… of course they will.” Ruby does the same with her hot chocolate. “Which, I don’t really understand ‘cause we’ve shared more body fluids than spit--”

“Ruby.” Weiss sends a death glare to her girlfriend.

“What?” She asks innocently, internally laughing her ass off.

“You need to _stop_.” Weiss lingers her gaze on the gamer in shock. She doesn’t say anything. Only teasing glances are met from silver eyes.

Ruby mutters an apology, conveniently finds the questions, and keeps her eyes on Weiss as her smirk on her face fades. “So first question: how did you two meet?” Ruby peers from her phone to turn to Weiss.

Weiss stares at the camera and sighs. “She walked into my house… and never left. And now we’re dating.” She breaks into laughter; Ruby tries to hold her’s back.

“ _Noo_!” Ruby dramatically embraces her. “Don’t say it like that!” Their faces are inches away from each other. “It was cuter when we met, tell ‘em.” Ruby releases her hold to listen to Weiss.

It’s move-in day. Weiss settles in her apartment, and so far, she has it all to herself. For now. It’s been hours of unpacking all day, and her roommate hasn’t arrived yet. The move-in window was closing, but that didn’t matter to Weiss since she was already settled in; roommate or not.

Just as soon as she does her nightly routine, a calamity occurs in the common area. A series of soft swearing and confusion can be heard on the other side of Weiss’s bedroom door. A knock. Between the evening glow, the bust of a cropped hair girl pops in through the cracked door. She smells of booze and weed and sounds like it, too. Her name’s Ruby, she tells Weiss she’s “fucking hot,” but she immediately takes it back because she’s both drunk and high right now. Ruby wishes her a good night.

That was the last she saw of Ruby--until five days later. The day before the weekend. Weiss wakes up to find Ruby cooking breakfast for them, bacon and pancakes, the booze and weed smell still lingering. Ruby has been gone at a sorority house for the past week. _Partying_ , Weiss assumed. That would explain her absence all week and the substance intake. She was not content with this girl as her roommate--at all. The other girl isn’t even trying to make a good impression on Weiss since she hasn’t been there all week. She nags Ruby about her concerning behavior, kind of harsh, but a little tough love never hurt.

Past her headache, Ruby told Weiss the truth: her sister was the former president of the sorority, and they consider Ruby as an honorary sister. She was helping that sorority install better wi-fi in their house because the one they have is crap. They asked Ruby because they trust her and wish to avoid as many creepy guys as much as possible. The only payments they could offer were alcohol and bongs--sex was on the table, but Ruby thought that was pretty shallow and she still had _some_ dignity left in her. She stayed a few days longer because she taught a few new girls how to cook. Their pantry looked like a fallout shelter; she told them a little pasta and rice go a long way. After breakfast, Ruby passes out in her room for two days.

Weiss has never felt more like a bitch in her life. She couldn’t explain Ruby’s condition the first night, but she had to admit, what Ruby did for that sorority was really sweet.

Weiss gave a shorthand version of their real story--skimming over the details of alcohol and drugs since that’s not how Ruby is anymore. Weiss wouldn’t exactly call their first meeting cute, but they were roommates, and have come a long way since then.

Ending her story, Weiss reaches over Ruby’s head to swipe her bangs with her fingers. “You know, I kinda miss your short hair.”

“You do?” Ruby asks, allowing Weiss to play with her dark, red-streaked locks.

“Well, it’s not long per se, not as long as mine, but I wouldn’t mind it shorter.” Her fingers stop brushing Ruby’s hair.

“Your hair is super long, though. Like, it goes down to your ass.” Weiss hides her giggle with her hand. “I wanted to, like, do something with your hair, like braiding it or whatever, for a video…” she silently admires Weiss’s white hair that’s up in a ponytail right now, “if it wasn’t _this_.” She vaguely gestures the room’s setup.

“Ruby,” she gasps, “don’t you _fucking_ dare touch my hair.”

“You say otherwise in bed.” She snickers in Weiss’s ear, the audio catching Ruby’s sensual remark clear as day. Weiss pokes her girlfriend, tickling her.

* * *

“Okay, new drink, new question.” Ruby holds the second cup and hands it over to Weiss. “Here you go.”

She takes it. “Thank you,” she sips the drink, “hm.” Ruby quickly steals a sip after her.

“That was the Cookie Dough Frappuccino,” Ruby looks at her phone, “and the next question is: what does Weiss do for a living?” She turns to Weiss and takes a sip of her water.

Weiss does the same before answering. “I’m a professional singer.”

“Yeah.” Ruby already knew this. “Do you wanna elaborate?” She chuckles.

“No.” Weiss sighs. Her job description is in the title. What was the point of saying more?

“Well, you travel a lot.” Ruby positions herself like a puppy in her seat. “I _love_ your touring stories where’s a place you’ve been to recently?”

“You know,” Weiss faces Ruby, “it’s funny you ask that because one of the last places I went to was a university. How those university gigs would work is… through the art or music department…” she explains to the camera, “they would want me to perform, so they contact my management team, who would typically say ‘yes,’ so I perform on their campus. For this gig at the university, I allowed a Q and A--”

“Like this.” Ruby motions to the camera.

“Yes, like this,” Weiss nods, “except I’m singing for most of it. So between one of the latter songs, someone, who looked to be like 12 or 14, which is around your demographic. They asked me, ‘what sort of conflicts do you face knowing a YouTuber?’ or something along those lines… and I’m standing there, contemplating my life, like, are you _fucking_ kidding me?” She asks dramatically.

Ruby stammers in disbelief. “That’s inappropriate.”

“ _Exactly_!” Weiss annoyingly sighs.

The gamer turns back at the camera with a serious expression and a tone to match. “For future reference… if you see Weiss in the wild, do _not_ talk to her about my YouTube career. ‘Cause YouTube is my thing and singing is her’s, and we like to keep it as separate as possible… career-wise… I just want to get that out there.” She turns to Weiss at the end.

“Thank you.” She looks at Ruby lovingly.

Ruby returns a smile. “You’re welcome.”

* * *

“Ah man,” Ruby rests her chin on the palm of her hand, propping her elbow, “y’know you brought up singing at a university,” the corner of her eye catches Weiss’s, “and that reminds me of the times I saw your shows during graduate school--”

Weiss immediately knew where Ruby was going and lit up. “ _Aww_ , and you were the sweetest.” She clings onto Ruby’s free arm, “Ruby would bring me flowers after every show--”

“I did.” Ruby nods.

“And at the end of every show, you’d start a standing O--”

“I gave you a different kind of O after the show.”

She gasps, “Ruby!” The other girl breaks into laughter, both of them hide their furiously deep blush.

Biting her lip, Ruby reaches for the next cup. Weiss’s face starts to cool down. “Alright, this one’s called the Cinnamon Roll Frappuccino.” Ruby takes a sip. She hands it over to Weiss. “Here.” Weiss sips the straw. “Third question: do you watch any of Ruby’s videos, and if so, do you have a favorite?”

Her lips part from the drink. “Oh my god,” she verbally thinks about the question. Weiss places the cup down on the line. “Honestly? No.” Ruby chuckles at her answer. “Let me tell you why…” Weiss assess her next choice of words carefully. “We started dating and formally seeing each other _before_ all of Ruby’s YouTube shit started.” She looks between the camera and Ruby, who is very amused. “And to be frank, I didn’t care for it at all. All I care about is you, so when this all took off, I was like, what the fuck? Why? How?”

“So you’ve never seen, like, a single one of my videos?” She asks between giggles.

“I… I have seen some of your videos.” She answers Ruby, stammering. She addresses the camera. “So, we mentioned me going on tours,” Weiss turns to Ruby, “which means I’m away from you a lot. I will look you up on YouTube and watch one of your uploads… just so that I can hear your voice and/or see your face.”

They hold each other’s hands. “Aww, you never told me you did that.”

“See, that’s the thing…” Weiss sighs, “we try to call each other, but sometimes it wouldn’t work because of timing, schedule conflicts, or even whenever I’m on the road at night and you’re sleeping your ass off…” Ruby laughs at this, “if we don’t communicate for the day, at least I have some way to, like, be with you. And that so happens to be through your YouTube channel,” Weiss releases Ruby’s hand to drink her water, “which, I don’t even understand.”

“You don’t know how to YouTube?” Ruby asks playfully.

Weiss sets her water down. “You’d tell me things, more like _complain_ , about YouTube. And I’ll understand that part of it. So I only know what you tell me.” She shuffles in her seat. “Sorta off topic, but, what do you tell people if they ask _you_ what you do for a living?” Weiss asks her curiously.

“Oh, we’re going back to the… previous question?” Weiss nods. “It depends… on, like, the age range. If they’re young or relatively young, I’ll tell them I’m a YouTuber, but if they’re old or older than me, I just tell people I’m a stay-at-home mom--a homemaker.”

“Oh that’s nice.” Weiss comments.

“Yeah,” Ruby nods. “I have a pretty decent fallback.”

* * *

The video cuts to Ruby falling back on the couch. “So what videos of mine _did_ you see?”

Weiss takes a sip of water. “It was a game…”

“Obviously.”

“I believe I watched your playthrough of _Catherine_.” She locks eyes with her girlfriend, catching her red-handed. The game is one of Ruby’s earliest completed playthroughs.

The YouTuber makes an unintelligible sound as her mind breaks at the thought of Weiss watching that particular playthrough. “Oh that’s a game a hoped you’d _never_ see--”

“And you emphasized that in the videos.” The singer reaches over for the new drink. “You were like, ‘I hope my girlfriend doesn’t see this…’” She snickers at her impersonation of Ruby.

“‘Cause I knew you didn’t watch my videos… I was justified, Weiss.” She glances at her phone to look at the next question. Weiss takes a sip of the next drink. “Most and least favorite of Ruby’s tattoos?” She passes it to the gamer. “Also, this one’s the Snickers Frappuccino.” Ruby quickly sips the drink.

“ _Interesting_.” She comments on the question. Weiss looks at Ruby, mentally visualizing the tattoos she’s seen over a hundred times on her body. “You have quite a few tattoos. They’re very diverse and different from each other.” She thinks about this just as a lightbulb pops over her head. “Is it bias to say my favorite is your tattoo of my star sign?” She asks her slyly.

Ruby laughs at her answer. “Yeah,” she turns to the camera for a brief moment, “when we started dating,” she looks back at Weiss. “I told you I was gonna get a tattoo to remember you by…” she chuckles between her words, “and you told me ‘no.’ Like, it--”

Weiss cuts her off. “Call me the fuck out.”

“I’m just saying it’s ironic.” Ruby defends herself. “That my tattoo of your star sign is your favorite, even though you originally hated it.” She rolls her sleeve to show the mentioned tattoo on her arm.

Over the winter break, after getting together, Weiss stayed with Ruby at her dad’s cabin. The only tattoo she had so far was a patch of roses covering her right shoulder--Weiss’s birthday present for Ruby.

They’re cuddling on the bed, Zwei napping on the foot of it, and Ruby’s verbally planning out her next tattoo to be Weiss’s star sign. She turned that idea down immediately. And she had her valid reasons: they’ve only been dating fairly recently, the implications of that tattoo are obvious, it feels like a lot of pressure on them, etc.

Ruby wanted to know what Weiss meant by that last point. She spelled it out for her, that she didn’t want the worst to happen, and their memory of them is permanent on Ruby’s body. She reassured Weiss that she would never want the worst to happen and the tattoo would symbolize their happy moments together.

The two went back and forth for a while until they could feel each other’s blood boil. She brushed her anti-tattoo argument off, saying that it was Ruby’s body, she could do whatever she wanted, and left the house to take Zwei for a walk. They weren’t seeing eye-to-eye with one another, and that ticked both of them off. Ruby wanted to tell Weiss she loved her for the first time, but she knew it was the worst possible time to do so.

That was their first fight.

Ruby faces the camera. “We actually talked about getting matching tattoos--”

“No we haven’t.” Weiss lies.

“Yes we have--and…” she turns back at Weiss, “you don’t have any tattoos, so if we do get matching tats, it would be your first one, what would you want it to be?”

Weiss crosses her arms. “If I tell you my answer, you’ll get that tattoo without me, and that’ll justify you getting another tattoo.”

“You just don’t want something permanent on your body.” Ruby teases.

“Ruby, we have a child together,” she scoffs, “I’m pretty sure that permanent enough.”

* * *

A new drink in hand, Ruby announces, “this one is the Butterbeer Frappuccino.” Ruby takes a sip of the drink and hands it over to Weiss. “And the next question is…” her brows furrow, “what is this number five?”

Weiss sips the straw. “Yes, it-- _oh_ that came down weird.” She coughs, quickly downing some water.

“You almost choked.” Ruby panics. “Are you okay?” She asks while taking the Frappuccino far away as possible from her.

“I’m fine.” Weiss gives Ruby a reassuring smile. “It just went down the wrong tube.” She composes herself.

The YouTuber does a presenter’s motion. “New title of the video: Meet my girlfriend. She almost _died_!” Saying that last part over-dramatically.

The singer sneers at her girlfriend.

Going back to the video, Ruby looks at the screen of her phone. “Okay, so question numero cinco: what was it like having Summer and did you always want kids?” She looks at Weiss.

Weiss thinks about her answer, a sense of serenity on her face. “I love Summer.” She takes Ruby’s free hand. “She’s our daughter. I was the one pregnant with her. But I didn’t always want kids.” She bashfully looks at the camera.

“You wanted a horde of dogs,” Ruby stated.

“I did.” She crosses a foot over her knee.

Ruby looks at the camera. “And I wanted kids.” She turns to Weiss. “I still want more kids by the way, I should’ve mentioned that to you.” She adds softly.

“...Okay.” Weiss agrees. “You’re the one who’s fucking having them then.” Ruby laughs against her significant other’s shoulder. “I will _not_ have another baby in my body,” declaring the silent agreement between the two about kids.

She moves back, looking at the camera. “Before Summer, we got Zwei II. Kids were something we had to compromise together with. So we have one kid, one dog, everything’s working out so far.” Ruby places her hand over Weiss’s knee, who rests her own hand on Ruby’s. “What made you sort of change your mind?”

“On kids?” Weiss’s head snaps to Ruby.

“Yeah.”

Weiss explained that she has a very traditional family, and she hates them. She especially hated her father the most. Women were treated unfairly simply because they were not men. She didn’t want the Schnee name to grow any larger for an unnecessary cause. Weiss had been sure of that for a long time.

But then Ruby came along in her life.

Ruby become more or less the deciding factor for Weiss when it comes to family. Nearly half a year into dating, they started talking kids. Ruby was so adamant into having a family of her own. Weiss, obviously, didn’t feel the same way. But she’s seen Ruby around kids, even people who are merely years younger than her, being a big kid herself, it kind of made sense for Ruby to be family-oriented.

So, Weiss made a slight compromise to have a family with Ruby--as long as it was with _only_ Ruby. And in turn, Weiss would give their child all the love she never received; she will be better than her parents. “So that’s my fucking tea.” She releases Ruby’s grip to drink her black coffee.

Ruby’s eyes are locked on Weiss. “ _Aww_ , so you wouldn’t have anyone else’s babies, only mine?” A childlike smile plasters on her face.

She finishes her sip and faces Ruby. “That’s the TL;DR version of it, yeah.”

The video cuts to Weiss remaining on the couch, smiling adoringly at what’s behind the lens. Ruby walks in from the left of the frame, swinging a baby Summer in her arms. “Speaking of… babey!” Ruby plops back down on the couch. “Summer is so big now.” She holds onto the baby’s hands as her little feet stand on the cushions.

Weiss combs the baby’s white hair away from her face. “She’s practically a toddler.” Summer walks toward Weiss.

Ruby looks over at Weiss. “Do you want her to stay? Is she allowed to have some coffee?” She points to one of the cups.

“Ruby!” She scoffs at her. “Don’t give her coffee!” Weiss snatches Summer away from her other mother.

Ruby chuckles. “Is she gonna die if we do?”

Weiss sits Summer on her lap. She avoids Ruby’s eyes to look in the camera. “So this is basically our relationship: Ruby will ask me if she or Summer are going to die if they do something, and ninety-nine percent of the time _what’s_ my answer?” She rhetorically asks her.

The YouTuber takes a while to answer. “Yes.” Ruby blushes. “Or most likely. She just suggests that we shouldn’t do it,” twiddling her fingers while answering.

She takes her eyes off Ruby and the camera and focuses on Summer. “This is also the reason why I’m hesitant about kids, ‘cause we will create more little Rubies in this world,” she glares directly at her, “and one of you is already enough. For me anyway,” saying that last part softly.

* * *

Ruby glances at her phone. Summer is now on Ruby’s lap, slowly falling asleep. “What was your best anniversary?” Every year, the YouTuber takes a quick break from creating content during her and Weiss’s anniversary. It’s the one time of the year they both agreed on taking a vacation from work, taking a week off to travel since Ruby spends so much time at home. Her fans appreciate and respect Ruby’s time off since most of the time it lands on finals week and they’re also surprised to find the gamer being such a romantic.

Weiss makes a surprisingly pleasant face after the sip of the drink. She passes the cup to Ruby. “This drink is called the Red Velvet Frappuccino by the way.” Ruby raises the cup and sips the straw.

Weiss drinks a bit of her water, clearing her throat. “I’m going to say last year.” She answers Ruby.

Ruby gently strokes Summer’s hair. “When we went to Disneyland with my sister?” She asks Weiss.

Weiss nods and sighs. “Just because it’s fresh on my mind. Also, Summer was there--” her tone sweetens as she looks into the baby’s half-asleep silver eyes.

The YouTuber looks at the camera. “We spent her first birthday there at Disney.” She quickly turns to Weiss. “Y’know how parents would just throw their one-year-old a basic-ass party they won’t even remember?”

Weiss follow-ups on her comment. “Those kinds of parties are for the parents’ friends who don’t have kids.”

“Right,” Ruby agrees, “they’re for the adults.”

“We didn’t do that though.” Summer bobs her head awake.

“‘Cause we don’t have friends?” Ruby asks, chuckling to herself.

“‘Cause we--” Weiss was taken aback by Ruby’s comment, “did it for us, mostly.”

“Yeah,” she turns to the camera from Weiss, “so Summer’s birthday so happens to fall around the time of our anniversary--”

“Of when we started dating,” Weiss remarks.

“Right.” Ruby looks between the baby, her girlfriend, and the camera. “And that was, like, a really freaking busy time for me. I had a convention in Los Angeles, so I prepped videos for that; we have the kid, so someone had to watch the baby; it was our anniversary, and we had to do something for that…”

“We decided to bundle everything all together,” Weiss said on Ruby’s behalf.

The YouTuber sighs. “That was… exhausting.”

“What are we doing this year?”

“Christ.” Ruby huffs in dismay. “I don’t know.”

“Should we bring Yang again?” Weiss asks suggestively, imply something that never happened from last year’s trip.

She rolls her eyes and huffs again. The singer’s grin is wickedly mischievous. “You sound just like her--” she tells Weiss and then eyes the camera, ”see, this is why, you should _carefully_ choose your words when inviting your half-sister to babysit your kid while you and your lovely girlfriend enjoy your anniversary in peace.”

“That sounds like a _very_ specific situation to be in.”

“It was--it was bad. I forgot to mention to her that we wanted to celebrate Summer’s first birthday, of course. And before we could even enjoy our leisure time, I technically had to work while I was in the area. I _specifically_ wanted Yang to come to help out on our anniversary. And she took it as,” Ruby covers a half-snoozing Summer’s ears, and turns into a suave Yang, “‘hey, I love Weiss, and I know your my sister and all… if it’s a three-way you want--’” her act drops, “and at that point I wanted to kill her, or me, one of us has to go at that point; I wanted a _giant hole_ to form in the ground, _swallow_ me, and remove my existence from this Earth entirely.” She uncups her hands from the baby’s ears.

Weiss giggles behind her hand. “You got a taste of your own medicine.”

“And that’s all I could handle…” Ruby puckers her lips at the air and makes a quick kissing noise, “a taste.” Making Weiss chuckle again.

“Disneyland was a fun trip.”

“It was!” She mindlessly squeezes Weiss’s knee. “Good thing I vlogged it.” She and Weiss find Summer fast asleep on her lap.

* * *

“She’s all tucked in?” Weiss asks Ruby behind the lens.

“Yeah.” Ruby swoops on the couch, brushing a kiss on Weiss’s lips. “Okay, let’s keep going… we’re more than halfway there.” She takes a sip of the drink. “This one’s the Creampie Frappuccino.” She hands the cup over to Weiss.

Weiss snickers. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

Ruby quickly corrects herself. “ _Banana Cream Pie_ Frappuccino.” Weiss takes a hesitant sip. “Don’t make fun of me, I’m illiterate.” Weiss holds back a laugh. “Best and worst things about Ruby?” She looks up from her phone.

“Oh my god, where to even begin?” Ruby laughs. “Do you want to hear the worst first?”

“Just--” her brain works for a minute, “okay, okay. Fucking roast me, I’m ready.” She crouches on the couch cushions--a thing Weiss constantly reminds her to never do.

“I’m just gonna be blunt and say that you’re such a _shit_ sometimes. Like, you radiate such chaotic energy--it’s insane. We were eating out--don’t you dare fucking say it--” Ruby bites her tongue, suppressing a smug grin, “dinner or something with Summer.”

Weiss asked for them to be seated somewhere secluded for the sake of other patrons. For the majority of their time, Summer was very agitated, and Ruby tried her best to calm her down. She looked like a complete obnoxious fool, and Weiss was annoyed, almost to the point of their daughter, but behind her prickly tone and attitude, was endearment for them. Summer’s mood shifted from there, and Ruby kept going at it, deducting that what made the baby happy was whenever Weiss was mad. She’s Ruby daughter all right.

Their commotion attracted the attention of a nearby customer, “this person came up to me, and was like, ‘is this woman bothering you?’ referring to _you_ ,” Weiss points to Ruby, “and I told them that it was all a misunderstanding and how I agreed to this ‘cause we’re dating--”

“But I’m not like that all the time,” Ruby interjects.

“Ruby.” Weiss deeply sighs. “You have been throwing sexual innuendos all over the place this  entire time.” The gamer bites her lips as she laughs. “Literally, all of this,” Weiss hovers her palm over Ruby’s mouth, circling it, “needs a filter.” She smudges her fingertips against Ruby’s lips. “Like, a word filter.” Her giggles leak between Weiss’s fingers. She internally mirrors the YouTuber's expression. “‘Cause it’s filthy.”

Weiss drops her hand. Ruby’s beady eyes dart back and forth Weiss and her thoughts. A slight chuckle escaped her lips. “Can you do that again with my mouth open?”

She just scoffs and rolls her eyes. “Oh my fucking god.”

Ruby bursts into laughter. “Okay, but you say suggestive shit, too--”

“But I do it tastefully.” Weiss innocently bats her eyelashes. She locks her fingers with Ruby. “And you are so lewd!” Weiss is laughing, too. “I can’t stand you when you’re so funny and sweet and adorable,” Ruby has a playful grin on, “like, if you weren’t, I would just fucking move out…” Weiss’s hand gets pulled by Ruby’s and she kisses one of her knuckles.

Ruby drops Weiss’s hand to look at the camera. “Honestly? Fair.” She looks at Weiss, her laughter dying down a bit. “So what are those good things about me?” She asks, placing her hand on Weiss’s knee.

Weiss takes a few moments to think about her answer. “You’re convenient.” She scoots closer to Ruby. “I think it’s one of the reasons why I hooked up with you.” She comments suggestively.

But Ruby didn’t catch it. “Girl, that’s shallow. So we’re together because we just so happened to share the same room?”

“Not _necessarily_.” She draws circles with her finger on Ruby’s palm. “You can do things… that are not that bad.” Her head is tilted down, but her eyes are on Ruby, timidly.

“Like what?” Ruby raises an eyebrow.

“Cooking.” Ruby cocks a toothy smile at her. “Between the two of us, you’re the one who could really cook.” Ruby nods in agreement. “And I’m a helpless lesbian who can’t cook.” Ruby giggles. Weiss continues, facing the camera. “I ate better food at the apartment than when I’m on the road. So that’s one.” She looks at Ruby again. “Two, you’re really useful when it comes to social media stuff. I went to you because I needed pics on my Instagram and promotions for my shows--”

“Whoa,” Ruby stops her, “are we plugging your IG now?”

Weiss scoffs. “I’m not…”

“Okay. Sorry, what were you saying?” She lowers herself on the couch, adoringly looking up at Weiss.

Ruby checks to see if she’s in the frame. Weiss doesn’t notice. “You helped me build my website and establish my own platform… I dunno… you put all this time and effort on me, even though I never asked. I just really think that’s sweet.” Her gaze matches her endearing tone at Ruby.

“Well, I’m always investing in you.” The YouTuber tenderly takes her hand.

She tried the whole career thing by busting her ass for internships. A lot of contract jobs came her way, but they all required her to move far away from Weiss. To ease her stress, Ruby turned to YouTube to play video games. It gave her something productive to do, and Weiss was surprisingly supportive of her. Eventually, Weiss’s career left both of them pretty well off, and Ruby stopped the job hunting. In the end, they just wanted to stay together. Then Ruby’s YouTube channel also gained traction over time. She might as well stick with it because “I don’t have anything else to do.” She cackles.

Weiss turns the tables for a second. “Do they know, like, what your degree is in?” She asks her girlfriend, referring to Ruby’s career hunting.

Ruby snaps her head back to the camera. “I have an MS in computer engineering.” She inches her face closer to Weiss. “Do you mind telling them what your degree is in?”

She looks at the camera. “I have an MM in Vocal Performance.”

“But before that…” her attention is fully on Weiss, “you _almost_ had a bachelor’s in business.”

“Yes.” Weiss nods. “For my first two years during my undergrad, I studied business because I was supposed to inherit my father’s company--”

“So then what happened?” Ruby asks, quickly taking a sip of her hot chocolate.

“A couple things, actually.” She instinctively mirrors Ruby and holds her black coffee in her hand. “I learned that you needed a calculus credit for a business degree, and I was like, _fuck this_.” A chuckle escapes the YouTuber's lips. “I cannot do math.” Dropping both cups, their hands quickly return to each other's. “And then… in the middle of my second year, my father fucking cut me off.” She angrily spat. “So I saw no point in getting a degree that I dreaded. With the help of my older sister, I successfully switched to music and eventually got my bachelor’s and finished graduate school.”

“Yeah, and that’s why we were in the same graduation year… because you were behind.” The YouTuber elaborates. Weiss nods in agreement.

“I’m assuming most of them don’t know about your master’s degree?”

Ruby smirks. “Well, it’s not like I use my degree. It’s useless to me.” Weiss laughs into Ruby’s shoulder. The YouTuber allows Weiss’s reaction to her terrible joke.

Weiss pops her head back up. “Speaking of useless, that reminds me--”

Ruby’s mouth goes agape. “What, you have more shitty things to say about me?” A smile creeps on her lips.

“Yes.” Weiss pokes Ruby’s shoulder. “You are so…” she stammers, “I don’t want to use the word--submissive.” Ruby bites her knuckle from laughing. “Do you remember the banquet?”

Ruby avoids her gaze, knowing exactly what she’s referring to. “Yes. I posted that on my IG story.”

A clip from Ruby’s Instagram story cuts in. The lighting in the room is dim and features hues of blue and violet. The tablecloth is visibly saturated white. A video of an undercooked chicken on a plate is captioned “it’s practically an egg.” The next image on the screen is Ruby, in formal attire, looking very concerned at the camera. Weiss, in a dress, has her back turned sitting next to her. The image is captioned “nvm the gf took care of it.”

Her eyes are still on Ruby. “Do they know the full story?”

Ruby sighs, the crook of her neck leans against the backrest. “Well, they’re gonna wanna know after this.” Ruby gestures to the camera. “I can’t just leave them hanging.” She drops her arm and straightens her posture. “That banquet was for Weiss’s singing thing. They served dinner--either chicken, seafood, or vegetarian. I ordered the chicken. Weiss had seafood. My chicken was somehow undercooked.” She clicks her tongue. “I cut the fucker up and Weiss said to me, ‘that’s raw chicken.’ But I was okay with it, I was just gonna eat some of your seafood--”

“But you weren’t going to confront them about it were you?” Weiss interrupts her.

She only gives Weiss a dopey smile. “Heh. No.”

“See, submissive.” She addresses the camera. Ruby leans forward to whisper something in Weiss’s ear, resulting in a playful shove to the shoulder. “Ruby!” Weiss gasps.

The video cuts to Ruby out of frame. She’s refilling their waters in the kitchen. “It’s always Ruby Roasting Hour. When is it ever Ruby Loving Hour?” She asks Weiss, still a bit hurt.

Weiss is on the edge of her side of the couch. “Between the hours of 9 pm and 12 am.” She answers without looking up from her phone.

“Oh?”

* * *

Ruby settles their two glasses of water on the coffee table. “So what are the best and worst thing about me?” Weiss asks her.

She chuckles nervously at Weiss as she sits back down. “I love you…” Ruby slides her arm behind Weiss, “and I love our relationship.” They maintain eye contact with each other. “I’m really happy where it is right now, and I _really_ don’t wanna fuck it up.” She says a little nervously.

“Good answer,” Weiss whispers.

“But if you wanna know, I’ll tell you later…” Ruby adds very hesitantly, like a skittish animal, “‘cause right now, there are just… so many good things about you and--”

She cuts Ruby off with a kiss. “Yeah, okay, later…”

The video cuts to Weiss sipping the next drink. “What do you guys normally do for dates?” Ruby takes the drink from Weiss. “Also, this is the Nutella Frappuccino.” She takes a sip. The two are sitting the closest they’ve ever been in the video. Their knees are touching. Weiss threw all her manners away when she decided to have her feet off the floor. Ruby looks so comfortable on that couch--manspreading, according to Weiss, but since Ruby’s not a man, that didn’t count. She’s just spreading.

“We don’t do anything.” Weiss thinks out loud. She turns to Ruby. “Does this count as a date? ‘Cause this is probably the most entertained I’ve ever been… with you.” They chuckle.

Ruby agrees. “Our date nights, even before Summer, were just hanging out. Watching Netflix and sleeping. That’s it.” Her shoulders shrug.

“We will watch an entire season of a show, like _One Day at a Time_ or _Queer Eye_ , cry our eyes out, and sleep.” Weiss comments.

“Sometimes we don’t even finish it,” Ruby adds.

“That’s so pathetic,” she scoffs, “and it’s the worst part.”

Ruby inches closer to Weiss, whispering loud enough for the audio recording to pick up. “Do you, like, wanna do something?” She asks her girlfriend.

“Honestly?” Weiss thinks about it for a few moments. “No.”

“Why not?” Ruby instinctively takes Weiss’s hand.

“We’re so busy.” Weiss sighs. The singer has the most consistent work schedule between both of them. Her day would be spent in meetings, rehearsals, or traveling… getting that downtime together is precious to them, so they take advantage by doing whatever. Ruby, and she’s been doing this during graduate school, would work nonstop for hours--maybe days--until she does what needs to be done. She would sleep for however long she needs. They love relaxing together. Sometimes they’ll do something special… but that was rare.

A thought came to the YouTuber's mind. “Do you remember _our_ first date?” A playful smile comes across Ruby.

“Hmm.” Weiss thinks back to memory lane. “I wouldn’t really call it a first date, I would call it a--hold on, what’s your audience demographic again?” She has a hand on Ruby’s shoulder.

The YouTuber laughs her head back, knowing exactly what Weiss’s question meant. “I dunno.” Her head lazily rests on the backrest. “You said young teens, but I think you’re just stereotyping.” She mimics Weiss’s smile. “Do gays count as a demographic?” She asks in a jokingly manner, yet simultaneously serious.

Weiss raises an eyebrow. “Your audience is full of gays?”

“Yeah…” Ruby confirms, “so I try to make this channel a safe space for everyone and apparently that’s mainly LGBTQs. I didn’t intend for that to happen, it was just so… convenient, as you would say.” She chuckles.

“It just so happens that you’re a woman loving women so your majority demographic is also full of gays?” Weiss rhetorically asks her.

“Exactly! So speaking of gays…” Weiss laughter hitches. “I’ll tell the story, if that’s okay with you.” Weiss nods and she tells their story.

Ruby and Weiss just finished living together after two semesters. It was currently the start of their summer break. She had an interview for an engineering internship at the city Weiss was at--who was staying with her family at the time. Ruby insisted they catch up and go out for drinks. Weiss gratefully accepted, wanting to spend as little time with her family as possible. Doing so, they met up at a pub near Ruby’s hotel. They talked and drank the night away--Ruby telling Weiss that she didn’t do so hot during the interview. Weiss had a similar predicament: her family was giving her a really hard time about her life choices, or lack thereof. Being in their early twenties was rough. They finish their round at the pub and make a quick stop at a liquor store to drink in Ruby’s hotel room. “The night was young!” Ruby said then and even now. She ended the story on that note in the recording, but there was more neither of them could profess beyond the duo.

Their reunion lasted late into the night; Weiss couldn’t possibly go home at this hour. They were both too drunk for their own bodies, “Careless Whisper” was playing from an Internet radio station on Ruby’s laptop, and Weiss wasn’t going anywhere important. It was the perfect recipe for lust. Thus, recklessness ensued.

Weiss woke up early morning after experiencing the best wet dream of her life. But it wasn’t a dream. She found herself in Ruby’s hotel room with the girl passed out under the covers next to her. She tried her best to piece last night together past her hangover, staying up for what felt like hours. Ruby wakes up. They watch the sunrise. Weiss insisted they talk about the previous night. If she regretted their night together, she would have left before Ruby woke up. Weiss’s excuse was that she didn’t want to do the whole walk of shame thing. Ruby joked that it was never a shame with her in bed. She winked and Weiss rolled her eyes. Even after that night, their friendship mattered first.

Thankfully, they were the same size, so Weiss borrowed Ruby’s spare clothes for the day. They agreed to do that again, sober, next time; Weiss will return the clothes, and they’ll see where their relationship goes from there.

That was nearly seven years ago. And those borrowed clothes didn’t seem to be an issue anymore.

“Do you what I just realized?” Weiss stares lovingly into Ruby’s eyes as she finishes her story.

Her words bring Ruby back to the present. “Hm?”

“Neither of us formally asked each other out.” She gently shakes Ruby’s knee.

Her eyes go wide. “Oh my god, we _are_ just friends!” Ruby launches herself off the couch. “Shit!” She clutches the couch on Weiss’s side. “Weiss, I just filed our taxes--” Ruby zooms off-screen. “I’ve been doing our taxes wrong this whole time--”

“That’s what you're worried about?” Weiss asks behind her. After a couple of seconds, she turns back around and chuckles to herself. On screen, the singer blushes pink across her cheecks as she audibly sighs in contentment. She notices the cameras still recording; Ruby forgot to stop them. She mindlessly turns to the camera, knowing Ruby will be watching as she edits. “I love you, Ruby.” Weiss blows a sweet kiss at the lens.

* * *

They both cleanse their palates with water. “Do you think Blake and your sister will be okay with a double date?” Ruby reacts to say something inappropriate. “And don’t fucking say what I think you’ll say.” She immediately stops, stifling a laugh. “I can see it in your eyes.”

“Wow.” Ruby sighs. “You’ve got me whipped um…” Weiss represses a spit take. “maybe.” She tells her. “Like, I’m fine with it.” She takes a sip of the new drink.

“We just haven’t seen them in a while.” Weiss switches out her water with the drink Ruby tried. “I’ve been considering a double date and then maybe family game night when Summer’s older.”

“Huh.” Ruby reads off her phone. “That’s like a perfect fucking segue ‘cause the next question is do your families get along? Or how are you with each other’s families?”

“What’s this called?” Weiss points at the cup in her hand.

“Oh, it’s the uhh, Cinnamon Toast Crunch Frappuccino.” The singer sips the straw.

Ruby waits for Weiss’s answer. “Are people asking that because of Yang?”

“Yang’s, like, a channel favorite,” Ruby explains to Weiss, looking at the camera for backup. Yang has been peppered in Ruby’s content for a couple years now, playing co-op, multiplayer games, and whatnot. Her subscribers go absolutely feral when she’s in a video.

“She gets along with everybody.” Weiss bluntly comments.

“She gets along with too many people.” Ruby raises up her hands in defense. “But that’s just my opinion.”

Weiss focuses on Ruby more than the camera. “The first time I met Yang was at her wedding. ‘Cause you invited me.” She modestly adds.

This was the first semester of living together; technically, it was only a couple months. Ruby hesitantly asks Weiss if she’ll be her plus one to her sister’s wedding. She stops studying to have a proper conversation with her roommate. The two weren’t exactly friends at this point, but they were at least tolerable. Ruby explained that she was the maid of honor for her sister, and she could bring a guest. It wasn’t like Weiss was doing anything. She’s quickly persuaded by Ruby, and they went together. Ruby has her focus on Weiss. “So what did you think of my sister?”

“Is she gonna watch this?” Weiss whispers.

“Weiss!” She whines.

“Seriously…” Weiss sighs, “your sister is irresistibly charming. I’ll give her that.” She drinks some of her black coffee.

Ruby cracks a smile. “Are you flirting with my sister behind my back?” She jokingly asks between giggles.

Weiss nearly spits out her drink. “No--Ruby!”

Her laugh fades. “I’m kidding.” She places a hand on Weiss’s shoulder. “But I’m fine if you are.” Ruby grins.

“Oh my god--stop.” Weiss is practically done with her girlfriend’s antics. “Y’know, it’s funny.” Ruby’s attention lands on her. “At Yang’s wedding, she came up to me during the reception and was like, ‘so… do you wanna get out of here?’” The YouTuber chuckles along with her impression of Yang acting suave. “Like, bitch, this is your wedding!” The singer completes her anecdote sipping her coffee.

“She knew…” Ruby’s gaze was off her girlfriend, “that you were my plus one?”

Giving a quick nod, “Oh, she was fully aware.”

“I’m not surprised.” The YouTuber half-smiles. “She likes to fuck with people.”

The video cuts to the two of them in a more relaxed state--both of them not really paying attention to the camera, just talking. “So what do you think of my family?” Weiss asks her significant other.

Ruby answers, switching one of the camera batteries, “All I’m gonna say is: oof.” She turns her head at Weiss.

The first time Ruby meet Weiss’s family was… interesting to say the least. Living halfway across the country made travel arrangements difficult, and their hectic schedules made visiting even more difficult. On top of that, their careers then didn’t pay sufficiently enough for a decent trip. Anyway, those were the excuses Weiss gave for every attempt of family contact. Those exact excuses came to a halt during Weiss’s pregnancy.

“Who knows…” Ruby says after the two landed in LaGuardia Airport, “It could be fun!”

A fancy company car picks them up and Weiss catches Ruby up on what she told her family about her girlfriend so far. Which was practically nothing. Weiss told her not to take it so personally. She then does a little crash course on how to behave in front of her family, hoping Ruby retained at least half of it by dinner. They made a brief detour to Weiss’s university she attended for her bachelor’s. Just driving around, giving a personal tour of the school. They finally made their way up Manhattan, Ruby wanting to see every tourist sight imaginable, and reached her family’s residence.

“Well, here we are.” The massive building looms over them, Ruby looking up top in the penthouse. “Do you remember our safe word?” The couple discussed this before the flight, in case either of them want to jet as soon as possible.

Ruby leans in her ear, “I thought the doctor said no kinky sex while--”

“No! You dolt!” Weiss squeezes her girlfriend to stop talking, her bump getting in the way. Ruby uncontrollably laughs at her.

That night was not what Ruby expected at all. Starting to where they were staying. Weiss’s childhood bedroom seemed more artificial than nostalgic. A few pictures of her younger self were around the walls, sure, but there was no visible dust or valuable possessions anywhere. Even the mattress was practically new. She got dolled up for the occasion shortly after arriving. “I think we could use that suit for a more… private matter.” Weiss compliments as Ruby does a twirl.

“As you wish.” She does a little bow, followed by a giggle. Weiss walks over from the edge of the bed to adjust Ruby’s tie. “Weiss, c’mon,” her breath becomes uneasy, “choke me, ack!” She fakes a gag.

“No no no no no no no no.” She points a disciplining finger at Ruby. “Remember what we talked about in the car? You can’t pull that shit here and think it’s cute.”

“I’m getting it out of my system.”

And then Ruby had mixed reactions to the dinner. Even surprising Weiss here and there. She was already used to one familiar face, Winter, so she didn’t have to try so hard to schmooze with her. Winter eased in the conversation--congratulating the two and asking other inquiries about the baby.

Weiss’s parents, however, told a very different story. Both occasionally offered Ruby alcohol throughout the evening. The woman constantly reminded them that she’s been clean for three years. A little disrespectful on their part, but Ruby was used to it.

The biggest bombshell of the night came from Weiss’s brother, Whitley. He was asked by Jacques to dig up information on Ruby. Weiss almost had a heart attack at what Whitley could’ve found about her. Ruby on the other hand, was completely unfazed. He found out about her Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, which were all private and unable to access. Then he dramatically brought up her YouTube and Twitch channels. She casually asked if he had ads during his venture into her content. He did.

She had a smile on her face. “Congratulations Whitley.” His smirk vanished. “You played yourself.” Ruby professionally and eloquently explained how monetization and partnerships worked on YouTube and Twitch respectively. Jaws dropped across a few members of the acclaimed family, except for Weiss, who looked proudly at the love of her life.

Ruby attaches the camera back on the tripod. “I think you did well with my family.”

“Yeah?” She looks over at Weiss behind the camera.

“Yeah. You were nervous as shit, but, yeah.” Ruby returns to her place next to Weiss on the couch, pulling out her phone.

“I’ve been nervous my whole life,” making Weiss giggle.

* * *

Ruby holds up the new drink. “Last one.” Her head snaps to Weiss. “Are you ready? I think this is the shittiest one… it’s the Fruity Pebbles Frappuccino.” Ruby sips the straw. “Bottoms up.” She hands the cup to Weiss.

Weiss takes a sip. “It’s so fucking sweet!” She drops the cup on the coffee table in disgust. “Okay, Ruby, what’s the question?” She asks, reaching for her water.

Her eyes are glued to the phone. “Are you two getting married? Do I hear wedding bells ringing? Have you proposed to each other yet?” Screenshots of those questions pop up on the screen.

“Of course that’s the fucking last one.” Weiss growls. “We get that from our families. We get that on the Internet--”

“There’s no escape.” Ruby chuckles.

Weiss points at Ruby. “And you picked these questions, so that’s telling.”

Her hands are up in defense. “I just gathered a mix of general questions. The majority of them asked this, and I want us to address this specific topic.” She looks between the camera and her girlfriend. “To be honest, we’re only just friends,” the singer snickers, “so I dunno why they would even ask this.”

She giggles. “We need to go on a date first…”

“That’s a great idea. We should.” They share a smile. “I should let you know though, not trying to break the mood or anything, that I have a kid--”

“Yeah?” Weiss asks, trying to keep up their act.

“Yeah.” Ruby chuckles. “I’m letting you know now, y’know, before things get serious.” The YouTuber looks in her girlfriend’s eyes in thought.

Breaking the act, she says, “so back to the question.” Weiss clicks her tongue. “When was the last time we talked about this? Marriage?”

Ruby avoids her gaze, nervously. “Ummm… when Summer… was born.” She said more like a question than a fact.

“And have your feelings changed since then?” Weiss genuinely asks her.

“Have your’s?” Ruby echoes, eyebrows raised.

She looks at Ruby suspiciously. “At the beginning, you were really nervous,” Ruby furiously shakes her head as her laughter builds up, “and now you’re nervous again--Ruby, don’t you _fucking dare_ propose to me for a YouTube video--”

“I won’t--I won’t…” Ruby cuts her off. “I‘m not one to exploit my relationship on YouTube. I think that’s fucking stupid.” She tells her seriously. “If you wanna frisk me for a ring, do it. You won’t find anything.” She gets off the couch and T-poses. Weiss pats Ruby up from her short shorts to the sleeves of her signature red hoodie, front and back. Ruby giggles as she gets patted.

Weiss sighs back down. “She’s clean.” A smug look is on her face. “Also, are those my shorts?” Pointing at the bottoms Ruby’s wearing.

A crooked grin dons on Ruby’s face. “Mayhaps.” She returns to the question. “Okay…” Ruby crashes back down on the couch, “so what’s our answer to the question then?”

“We’re not married right now.” Weiss shifts between Ruby and the camera. “But I’m not entirely against the idea either…” Her gaze is down.

“Oh, ‘cause you’ve always said ‘in the near future…’” Ruby’s eyes don’t leave Weiss.

“Yes.” She nods. “And I mean it.” She intertwines her fingers with Ruby’s, “And I know you feel the same way--”

“Yeah.” Ruby’s eyes darts between the camera and her girlfriend, accidentally slipping her hand away from Weiss. “Going back to my sister… she got married pretty rushed, and I’m not gonna get into that for personal reasons, but she and her spouse have told me, or advised me, that we have all the time in the world to get married… if we want.” They share a tender smile. “Hypothetically,” Ruby continues, “if we were to get married, how do we deal with last names?”

“Well,” Weiss sighs. “Summer’s name is hyphenated, Rose-Schnee, and I kinda like that.” She shifts in her seat. “It’s ironic you brought that up ‘cause, and I can’t believe I’m on the record saying this,” she scoffs, ”when I order food or drinks and they need a name, I use yours.”

Ruby chuckles. “That’s identity theft.” She teases.

“Shut up.” Weiss stifles her own laugh. “Your name is ten times easier on the mouth than mine--like, a baby can say it.” She flips her hair.

“I was a baby when I got my name.” She softly adds.

“And you still are.” Weiss teased.

“So,” she shrugs her shoulders, “what’s our final answer answer on marriage?”

“Hm,” for the dozenth time, this video, their hands meet, “we’ve always wanted to get married. It’s just never been the right time.”

Ruby nods. “There you go, that’s the video.”

“We’re done?”

“We. Are. Done.” She gently squeezes Weiss’s hand.

Their conversation quickly comes to a close as they’ve answered all ten questions.

Ruby closes out the video. She has Weiss rank the best and worst of the drinks they tasted. She hates all of them. Ruby breathes out a laugh one last time. In true YouTube fashion, she asks the viewer to ‘like’ the video. “Do you wanna tell them to subscribe?”

Weiss locks her eyes at the camera. “You should probably unsubscribe--”

“No!” Ruby cuts her off and the video ends--the channel end card plays.

* * *

**Epilogue**

The soft cotton sheets are draped over her bare shoulders. She reaches out, hoping the warmth of her favorite person will be there, but there’s coldness instead. Weiss flutters her eyes open and gets blinded by the morning sun. Grunting, she rolls over to the other side to grab a robe.

She finds Ruby in her office, on her computer, editing the video they shot yesterday. Her office is completely dark--the acoustic foam on the wall being the main culprit. The only light source, besides the monitor, in the room are the keyboard and computer; their LED lights brightly display rainbow colors. A soft object nudges Weiss’s leg. Looking down, she finds her daughter in her walker. “Hello my ray of sunshine!” She lifts Summer off her walker, cradling her. Weiss tiptoes over to Ruby’s desk and seductively plants kisses on the back of her neck. “Good morning,” she greets in a low husky voice.

Ruby slips off her headphones. “Hey, morning,” raspily croaks out. She takes Summer from her, bouncing her on her lap.

“How long have you been down here?” She asks, tying up her hair.

She rolls her chair to face the clock on her desk. “Uhh, ten hours.” Ruby looks up at her girlfriend kind of guiltily. Consuming ten coffee drinks in one sitting does that to you.

Finishing up her bun, Weiss asks, “did you feed Summer?”

“Yeah,” she returns the baby to her girlfriend, “I gave her egg.” Weiss returns Summer to her walker and Ruby has an eye on the baby as she plays. Her girlfriend returns to her side, sitting on the arm of the chair. “Nice robe,” Ruby compliments.

Weiss looks down and sees she’s wearing Ruby’s robe. “Well, guess who’s wearing mine?” She scoffs. Ruby has on a silk white robe and Weiss is wearing the one YouTube sent to the gamer as a gift.

Ruby bashfully looks down. “It was dark, okay!” She takes Weiss hand in her’s.

Mentally forgiving her, Weiss asks, “So how’s that video coming along?”

Ruby looks over at the monitor. “Pretty good!” She says optimistically. “They’re gonna love you. Do you wanna do it again?”

“Be in a video with you?” Ruby nods. “Hell no.” Weiss chuckles, shaking her head.

She shows Weiss the current cut of the video. Ruby watches her reaction as she mirrors her expression on screen. She laughs after Ruby tells a joke on cue with the video. Weiss commentates at her use of profanity throughout, but Ruby reassures her that it’s fine. They filmed a total of two hours the other day--the two of them talking their hearts out with each other for the most of it; Ruby was able to miraculously slim the footage down to twenty minutes. The video ends.

Ruby tells her girlfriend that she’ll delete the bit of Weiss saying “I love you, Ruby” just before she uploads the video on YouTube--it’s for their eyes only. Weiss suggests the audio and color correction could use some touching. Ruby will take note of that as if she hasn’t done YouTube for the past five years.

She tells her girlfriend she’s getting breakfast and wants Ruby to join her. She will. Weiss guides little Summer out of the dark office and into the kitchen.

Once they’re gone, Ruby lays her eyes on the drawer cabinet underneath her desk where she stores her video equipment. The top drawer is where the batteries and SD cards are kept (they’re at the top because those items utilize the least amount of weight). The heavier objects, like cameras and lenses, live in the bottom drawer.

She slides the top drawer open and reaches for the back of it. Ruby finds the object she’s looking for and takes it out.

Inside Ruby’s hand, fidgeting with it gently, is a little velvet box.

**Author's Note:**

> A lot of Lindsay Jones vibes from Ruby eh?


End file.
